CHAPTER 10

When the sun had sunk into the horizon, as promised, Charlotte was received by none other than Maximillius Rex in His smaller guest reception room, keeping things quiet and unseen from prying eyes. There was no ceremony. There was really no reception of sorts. They really just entered the room with a gloomy look, posted two Vindex Regis out the door, and sighed as soon as the doors were closed.

There were things that Charlotte really wanted to bring up to Him, as she had honestly been quite angry at Him for a while now, but she let Him be until He felt comfortable enough to speak. What difference would it make, anyway? They had a week until the face of Lenamontis would change forever. A few more minutes of drowning in sheer desperation wouldn’t have made a difference.

“You need to understand, Charlotte,” He finally began, “that there were three reasons I couldn’t pick a side today.”

Charlotte sat down on the guest sofa, crossing her arms. “I’m listening.”

“The first is that … well, I believe you are aware of this, but the slaveowning dukedoms have threatened to secede from Lenamontis.” He frowned. The wrinkles on His face were deathly clear. “That was no simple threat. They really would. The secession itself would be messy, but not something that I can’t handle. The problem comes behind that.”

“And that is?”

“The aftermath, Child. They aren’t just dukedoms. They only have the confidence to claim secession because they know they will survive what follows.”

Charlotte scowled. “Is it because they’re agricultural?”

“Oh, that alone wouldn’t have worried me so much. Thanks to Hero Tanaka’s exploits as a champion Traveler, our kingdom has more than enough gold to cover for that for a while. We’ve also still maintained relatively good trade relations with other nations, too. If anything, I feel like Hero Tanaka’s presence as a Lenamontese also makes other nations more hesitant to try anything that would hurt our people. True, our food supplies would take a hit—but it’s not something we can’t recover from.”

“So where’s the worry coming from?”

“My worry lies in their backing,” He said. This time, He actually pressed His temples. “Just being able to produce food isn’t enough to get your territory running. You need to trade them. Unfortunately, most of the … stronger merchants have decided to vouch for these dukedoms.”

Charlotte’s heart sank. Those merchants must’ve been trading slaves, too. If Lenamontis decided to outlaw slavery, their losses would be unimaginable. “So if they secede—”

“They already have their affairs covered. They would be running business as usual, except now they’d get to run it on their own terms. Also, if these merchants also decided to cut ties with Lenamontis, then we would be in trouble with the other nations. That’s the one thing I can’t let happen.”

The young girl slumped back onto the sofa. “That’s one issue. What’s the other two?”

“The second is, of course, that you have Hero Tanaka on your side.” That was pretty straightforward, Charlotte thought. Suzuki wanted the slaves free. No further questions. If the King had chosen to maintain slavery, He would make Himself an enemy to Suzuki. No human in their right minds would be so overt about that. Even the bravest of men would tremble and hesitate, and the only ones who could confidently make such a call without hesitation were obviously simple fools.

“And the last?”

“The secession threat wasn't an empty threat. And no, I’m not talking about the merchants this time.”

Charlotte tilted her head a little. “Sorry?”

“They’ve prepared armies, Charlotte. Mercenaries and footsoldiers are coordinating as we speak. They’re trying to gather enough for their base of operations. Should we try to hold back their secession through military means, they’re more than happy to fight back.”

They fell silent. In terms of fighting power to suppress the rebellion, the King definitely had an advantage—but war is costly. Those dukedoms were bold enough to roll with the secession threat because not only were they very self-sustaining by means of agriculture, but they had with them the backing of merchants. Powerful merchants.

The best merchants were always more than just their money. Charlotte wasn’t keen on finding out how well-connected they could be.

So the King’s options were either to leave the nation starving, stuck in a protracted civil war, or have the Hero wipe out the entire rulership and totally break international balance. Charlotte knew that she hated His choice of neutrality, but she couldn’t say that she didn’t understand the issue.

With that, she pressed her temples as well.

They both groaned.

The two then spent fifteen more minutes in silence. Charlotte tried imagining the worst outcomes from each scenario—if Suzuki really decided to attack Lenamontese royalty, first, the Mansion would be in danger. He would need to Teleport everyone first to safety, but she wasn’t sure if he’d be able to do that when he’s still explosively emotional. That means there would be fighting. They’d probably lose some ninjas, a few maids, and some butlers. Scarlet would be branded an enemy, again. Astrid would have to witness her family being attacked, again. Miss Cath, Miss Artia, Amelie and Little Miss Karin would be on the run, again. Leonie would probably host everyone over in Lupus, since it’s in Constantius as well, but Charlotte wasn’t sure how long they could hold out.

What would happen to the people? Would they side with the Hero? Would they side with the King? Would the pro-slaveowning people be shameless enough to side with the Hero when they properly realize that choosing otherwise could mean certain death?

Would the Hero just wipe all of his enemies with his powers without a second thought to shape the world in his image, even if that meant destabilizing the house of cards that held up the entire world? Even if that meant turning himself from hero to tyrant in one simple gesture?

If they did break into a civil war, how long could they last? Constantius had the military advantage, maybe, given their experience in the Thousand-Year War, but the enemies would be agricultural dukedoms. If they failed to end it swiftly, they would be doomed. Constantius and its allies would have to depend on self-sufficiency, which couldn't be good because they were still on their starting swing. They would need imports. Would other countries even still want to send supplies if Lenamontis was stuck in a war with itself? Would humanity really have to fight again just less than a year after their war of a thousand years just ended?

Charlotte clenched her fists. Will I have to stand out there again?

And what if her people did end up starving? Was that it? Was that the end of Constantius? Slow, painful, sorrowful deaths dictated by their empty stomachs? A total spiral that overrides all moral thinking?

All because they fought for what was supposed to be right?

The more she thought of it, the less she felt like she could see the end.

“Charlotte,” Maximillius Rex said softly—there was unmistakable quivering in His voice. “What should I do?”

What should I do?

This man, the top seat in Lenamontis, really asked her what He should do?

This man, the one who signed on the order to turn young soldiers into literal murderers, had the audacity to ask her what He should do?

What should I do?

What should you do?

What should I—

Crack.

… and that was it. The girl just snapped.

Charlotte learned that day that she was nowhere as patient as she was taught to be.

“Pardon the language, Your Highness,” she said under bated breath, “but I wish to be frank in how I speak. May I be allowed this rudeness?”

He looked dazed for a second. Now that she thought of it, she had been frank this whole time to begin with. “S-sure?”

“Thank you. Then what the hell do you want, Maximillius?”

That seriously took the King by surprise. His jaws hung. “Wh—?”

“You don’t get to ask me what you should do. What do you want to do?” Charlotte really just let the words escape her mouth on their own terms at that point. “You don’t get to ask me what you should do. This entire mess began because you kept tiptoeing around the issue, because you sent everyone mixed signals, because you were so desperate to keep everyone happy, the great success that is. So tell me—what do you want?”

“I—of course I want peace for my kingdom!”

“STOP WITH THE FEEL-GOOD ANSWERS ALREADY!” the frantic girl pulled her own hair as she screamed. “I’m not asking you as a king! I’m not asking you as the ruler! I’m not asking you as a tie-breaker! I’m not asking you as a Goddess-forsaken precedent—I’m asking YOU, for crying out loud!”

The King was showing an hilarious mix between terror and confusion, but Charlotte had no time to appreciate that. She just screamed at the King’s face. No more going back.

I’m sorry, Leonie, Maelys, Astrid.

I’m sorry, Father, Mother.

I’m sorry, Suzuki.

Probably nobody expected that the one time Charlotte truly got so close to death she could stare it in the face, it wouldn’t be from an outsider’s attempt at her life. If it’s her head after this, Charlotte wouldn’t be surprised.

“I’m asking you as the person my family has been so close to for countless years! I’m a Constantius girl, for Goddess’ sake! We always stand by you!” Charlotte stomped on the ground. “I’m asking you as a girl, as a person, to another fellow person! I’m worried about the kingdom, sure, but I worry about you too—hell, I don’t even care about the Abditum right now because I care about you that much!”

“Wait, how did you—”

“So I’m asking you, Maximillius,” she finally panted, pointing her finger at Him, “what do you want?”

She was gasping for breath, but somehow, that was enough to make the King react. His shoulders began to shake—and, before long, a single teardrop.

“Of course—” He choked, “of course I want to abolish slavery!”

Now that wasn’t something she was ready for. Her tone calmed right away. “… you do?”

“Yes! Not a single day goes by where I didn’t consider just letting abolition take hold! Not a single night goes by where I didn’t pray to the Goddess that your experiment in Constantius would succeed because then I’d have an excuse to just abolish slavery! I want abolition!”

“… thank you,” Charlotte whispered. “That’s … actually surprising.”

“I’ve never liked seeing humans as just things. Even the Abditum was because I was desperate. I know this isn’t what Colette would’ve wanted.”

Slowly, the furious girl sat back down. The King started sobbing. “I’m sorry—Miss Colette? I thought you were but distant family?”

“Yes—but she was originally close enough to the Throne. She was my first cousin from my mother’s side of the family. We grew up together, at least until she fell in love with the arcane at a very young age. I fought tooth and nail to find her a distant relative who’d adopt her so that she wouldn’t be in danger when I’d have to vie for the Throne.”

“… so all this time, Miss Colette was…?”

“I knew her since she was a baby. Oh, she was like a little sister to me. I’d dote on her every chance I got.”

If she were to be honest, Charlotte was curious to hear more—but there was a more pressing issue at hand. “And how does Miss Colette connect with … the problem of abolition?”

The King tried to take a deep breath, but instead sobbed a few more times. He tried once more to little more success. “Do you know why Colette agreed to join Hero Tanaka in his journey?”

“I think she mentioned honor?” That, and she was such a thrill-seeker. Charlotte knew that she was probably interested in meeting and traveling with an otherworlder. The King, surprisingly, bitterly laughed.

“Of course she’d say that while in Court,” He said. “But no. There was a reason she was willing to go above and beyond when the Hero tried to dismantle the human trafficking ring in Diutiscus.”

The Diutiscus Affair. That’s what they called it. Little Miss Karin was the person who helped the Hero and his Party navigate the deep underground of Diutiscus, finding the places where people were being caught and sold off to slavery or to secret personal ownerships—she did so despite being a slave herself, and a young child at that, too, because she felt like it’s the one way she could be useful to her friends. It was the time the Hero dismantled the biggest known human trafficking ring on the continent.

The Affair exposed the Diutiscan royal family to be involved in the very ring—they were central to both the funding and the covering of the operation. Astrid was horrified when she first found out. It was one of the main reasons she mentioned to Charlotte over tea about why she felt like she had nothing to lose when she cut ties with her royal blood entirely.

The Affair was also how Miss Colette was killed in the line of duty.

She was the first of the Hero’s Party to pass away.

The Diutiscan soldiers were strong. So strong. Too strong … and, at the time, the Party just wasn’t a match without Suzuki.

Miss Colette died calling his name.

In retrospect, Maximillius Rex was right. Miss Colette definitely went above and beyond during the Diutiscus Affair. “And what reason was that?”

“Growing up, she was very close to the local marchion’s daughter,” He explained. “Her name was Henrietta. She was of House Cassius. They were inseparable—until House Cassius fell.”

He went on to tell the story of a noble house that was so used to living in luxury, a noble house that was so swayed by the power it had growing up, that nobody was prepared for what it’s like to face the real world because anyone who cared about them had long passed. It was a House embroiled in such a massive issue with undoubtedly shady merchants and trapped into so many bad deals that even the Royal Court accountants had a headache when they had to read their financial reports.

It was a House disliked by the Capitol, a House detached from every other noble, and a House entirely used as a tool by the merchants.

As soon as the House was wrung dry, they were left out to die.

One day, the House was raided. Nobody ever knew the culprit. The inhabitants of the house just went missing.

This happened some time after Maximillius Rex had been coronated, so He immediately knew that it was the act of human traffickers. Unfortunately, He also knew that they were most certainly not Lenamontese—which means they couldn’t ever be pursued by Lenamontese law, even if they got caught.

The Royal Court accountants only took a sigh of relief. The problem House was gone.

Miss Colette was crying rivers. Her best friend was taken.

She had always wanted to avenge the disappearance of Henrietta, but never found the means to. It was why she entirely immersed herself in the study of Magic. Magic could do what other people couldn’t, and she wanted to do what Rex Lenamontis couldn’t.

When Suzuki appeared, the opportunity really just presented itself.

And when Suzuki entered the Diutiscan fray, Miss Colette felt that it was her one true calling. It was her vengeance. It was her vendetta.

She paid for that with the loss of her life.

“So, yeah,” the King wiped His eyes. “If it were at all possible, Charlotte, I’d love to abolish slavery. If nothing else, I feel that this is what Colette would’ve wanted me to do. But the risks are far too great. I can’t gamble with the lives of my own people.”

He was right.

Charlotte thought back to the worst-case scenarios. She thought of the expressions on everyone’s faces. The anxiety that Amelie would feel. The uncertainty in Little Miss Karin’s eyes. The surrender in Astrid’s expression. The stubborn relentlessness on Leonie’s face. The rampage Scarlet would unleash.

The blindness Suzuki would suffer as he annihilated probably thousands of lives in a blink.

Charlotte shuddered. That would be terrifying.

It was then, however, that Charlotte had the same thought she did before the meeting: I wish you were here to comfort me like you always did when I was still but a wee child.

Miss March.

Miss March’s message.

Transience.

A transient state, so to speak.

Children of Earth must be so advanced.

Somebody had to fight back, and fighting back isn’t a pretty thing. It could easily get violent. It could easily get bloody.

We skirted around the topic of the bloody revolutions, but I learned that even behind the war lines, a political battle was being fought.

… stating that a freed slave is cleared of all their former crimes….

Little Miss Karin was a former slave.

So was Heiress Cathubodua.

So was Miss Artia.

Ah, I wish I could’ve helped him like that. Instead, I was sent here to slow him down….

In other words, if not for her aid, Miss Hari never would’ve developed….

Like all else, there was history to it….

… and like all that was history, that could be changed.

Transience.

A transient state, so to speak.

… just like that, a small ember flickered in Charlotte’s mind.

“Wait,” she said softly. “Transient … Your Highness.”

“Yeah?”

The gears in her mind were turning. The little puzzle pieces were slowly coming together, and as the bigger picture started assembling itself in her mind, Charlotte realized that there truly was a way out.

A bloodless way out.

She would need Suzuki’s help with it—she finally found a way he could properly contribute to all of this—but, if everything could go according to plan, there was one way she could put things back to track.

They just had to be really precise.

She stared at her King in the face. Her resolve was clear. “I may have an answer to all of this. And, if we move fast, we’ll get to solve it all in a week. But first, can we use Academic Transmission to broadcast your decision directly all across Lenamontis?”

The King didn’t look too pleased about the prospect of having such pressure, but he nodded. “I’ve been thinking about that, actually. It should be possible. What’s this about?”

Charlotte took a deep breath. If her plan was to work, they wouldn’t have much time. “Then let’s get that arranged. Next, I need to know—how long does it take for messenger birds from each territory to reach the Royal Court?”

*